Forbes Recognizes The University of Scranton Among America’s Best Colleges

      The University of Scranton is among the elite universities included in Forbes Magazine’s online listing of “America’s Best Colleges 2010,” published on Aug. 11. Scranton, with a rank of 224, was among just 42 colleges in Pennsylvania and 23 Jesuit universities to make the national ranking of 610 institutions. This is the third consecutive year that The University of Scranton has been listed.

      The article published in Forbes.com that accompanies the online listing states “(w)hether they’re in the top 10 or near the end of the list, all 610 schools in this ranking count among the best in the country: We review just 9 percent of the 6,600 accredited postsecondary institutions in the U.S., so appearing in our list at all is an indication that a school meets a high standard.”

      The ranking, compiled by Forbes with research from The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, is based on a dozen factors that seek to evaluate student satisfaction, post-graduate success, student success in garnering nationally competitive awards, student debt and four-year graduation rates. Sources of data for the analysis include postings on RateMyProfessor.com (17.5 percent); listings of alumni in Who’s Who in America (10 percent); salaries of alumni posted on Payscale.com (15 percent); the average four-year debt for student borrowers (12.5 percent); four-year graduation rates (8.75 percent); predicted versus actual four-year graduation rates (8.5 percent); and an analysis of students earning nationally competitive scholarships (7.5 percent), among other factors. Forbes does not categorize schools by size or institution type.

      This is the second national accolade for The University of Scranton in just two weeks. Last week, The Princeton Review listed The University of Scranton in the 2011 edition of “The Best 373 Colleges” guidebook, marking the ninth consecutive year that Scranton was counted in the annual publication.